


Idol

by zenonaa



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6426715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenonaa/pseuds/zenonaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“To be ridiculed is such a harsh blow to a young girl’s confidence, especially at a stage of her life when she seeks the approval of her peers...”<br/>The voice chilled Reine’s body yet she found comfort in it. Her body still quaked but she stopped crying and listened.<br/>“There can be no forgiveness for that, no?”<br/>She straightened up, eyes narrowed. “No, there... can be no forgiveness...”</p><p>Hawkmoth's latest villain has the ability to make all those who look into her eyes worship her. Adrien needs to keep himself safe, which is difficult when Plagg is sick, and wait for Ladybug to arrive before it's too late. He also has a school dance to help organise and Marinette worries that it’ll give Chloé a chance to get closer to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Yah-choo!”

The exaggerated sneeze might have been comical if Plagg had aimed it at, say, his paw or a handkerchief, rather than at Adrien’s face. Its intensity launched Plagg backward through the air but not far enough that he crashed down onto the floor or somewhere else beyond the grey desk in Adrien’s bedroom. He landed on his hind legs a short distance away, still on the desk. Then, trembling, he floated up to bring himself to the same height as Adrien’s head.

Adrien rubbed the knuckles of one hand against his cheek. “Argh. Gross, Plagg.”

In response, Plagg snorted, and to that, Adrien winced.

“This isn’t fun for me either,” said Plagg in a nasally voice. He snorted again and flopped onto his back, sprawled across Adrien’s desk. “Oh, woe is me... I can barely stomach any camembert.”

Plagg left a pause. Then he shakily raised a paw.

“Barely,” he emphasised. His paw sank down to his stomach, falling a lot quicker than it had risen.

Adrien held in a sigh and did his best not to glare at Plagg. “How long is this sickness going to last? Are you sure this healer guy you told me about can’t speed up your recovery?”

“Oh, so is that how it is?” asked Plagg. He shut his eyes. “Here I am, suffering from a dreadful virus, and you’re just concerned about how it affects you. I’m telling you, I just need plenty of rest and cheese. The low temperature in the Seine messed up my energy temporarily or something.”

Or something.

“I’m concerned about how it will affect Paris,” Adrien clarified. He dumped his elbow onto his desk and flicked his wrist, brow furrowed in seriousness. “What if there is an akuma and I can’t transform?”

Plagg woke up infected with the mysterious virus that morning, leaving him with a runny nose, regular bursts of coughing and leaving him lazier than usual. Well, lazy might have been too harsh a word because Plagg had a good reason to be less active just this once. Adrien didn’t find it any less frustrating though. No akumatized villains had cropped up yet, but Adrien felt that this stroke of luck wouldn’t last much longer. Good luck was Ladybug’s thing, not his.

“Oh, you’ll be able to transform.” Plagg opened one eye. “Well, probably.”

They hadn’t been able to check, not just because Plagg had been drained of most of his energy but because of Adrien’s other commitments too. He even missed a patrol with Ladybug because after school that day, he needed to be at a fencing class, then he was driven to a photoshoot that concluded as night bled into the sky, transforming it from the cerulean blue of Ladybug’s eyes to navy, more like her hair.

Adrien slammed his face against his desk and heaved out a groan.

With Adrien stationary and no longer interesting to watch, Plagg’s eyes wandered from Adrien to the four computer monitors stationed at Adrien’s desk, all showing a blog post from the ‘Ladyblog’, a fansite that Alya, a friend of Adrien’s, ran.

This particular post was the most recent essay that Alya had written, speculating Ladybug’s true identity but not putting forth any new points. Just a summary of old ones. It included a picture of Ladybug waving at the camera, smiling and looking off to the side.

Her transformation had been close to wearing off, if memory served right. The text on screen definitely had nothing to do with the history homework that Adrien was supposed to be working on.

“Let me guess... you’re trying to figure out the identity of your darling Ladybug again,” said Plagg, who had been too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice what was on the computer until this point. “You know, maybe you should work on your project on Ancient Greece instead. Can you believe that Miss Bustier had the gall to tell you for your project on Ancient Egypt that you should have focused more on accuracy than creativity? Everything I told you was completely and utterly true.”

Adrien lifted his face from his desk and trained his eyes onto the biggest monitor that unlike the smaller three on the desk, was mounted to the wall, and studied the photograph of Ladybug.

“Can you imagine that there are people who get to see her without her mask on? Everyday?” said Adrien. He propped his chin in his palm, elbow on his desk. A smile slowly spread across his face as his eyes closed. “I wonder what she’s like when she isn’t Ladybug...”

The same kind of smile was on Adrien’s face the next morning. Miss Bustier had yet to arrive and some of his classmates were still filing into the room, adding to the buzz of voices around him. Already seated, Adrien was sat in roughly the same position as the evening before when he read Alya’s last blog post.

“Hello?” A hand swept down into Adrien’s vision and began to wave. “Earth to Adrien?”

Adrien blinked and straightened up.

Beside him, Nino withdrew his hand from Adrien’s face. “You were totally zoning out there. What gives?”

Nino was Adrien’s best friend, but Adrien couldn’t exactly say, ‘I’m pining for a superhero who I only get the chance to talk to while I’m being a superhero too’, so Adrien just mustered another smile, this one smaller than his previous one.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” said Adrien, not exactly lying as he did spend a good hour or two staring up at his ceiling, thinking about Ladybug, and his heart had beaten faster at the thought of Ladybug so he felt more awake and ergo, not able to fall asleep for some time.

The mention of ‘sleep’ threatened to entice a yawn out of Adrien, but he blinked a few times in quick succession and fought it down.

“Seriously? Again?” Nino shook his head. “That can’t be good for you, dude. You’ve got to tell your dad that you can’t juggle being a normal kid with schoolwork, all those clubs, modelling and now those planning meetings for the school dance coming up.”

Normal kid. What a joke. Adrien didn’t laugh though.

“Did I hear someone mention the school dance?” came a voice that Adrien’s shoulders hunched at. Chloé sidestepped into the walkway behind Adrien and Nino’s desk, one hand over her heart. She batted her eyelashes. “This year is going to be the best one yet, and I am totally saying that because I will be there to ensure that the theme for the dance is the coolest, trendiest theme that this school has ever hosted.”

Sabrina shuffled into the walkway after Chloé, hands on her hips and radiating a proud mother air. At the desk behind where Chloé and Sabrina currently stood, Marinette had her teeth bared. Alya, next to Marinette, rolled her eyes, but Chloé ignored them and let out a grating laugh.

“And what a coincidence it was that not just my name was picked out of hat but Adrien’s too,” said Chloé.

“Yeah, it’s almost like it wasn’t a coincidence,” said Alya.

Chloé spun around to confront them, chin raised. Adrien and Nino twisted around in their seats and Adrien slowly tilted his body to one side, just enough so he could look past Sabrina and achieve a clearer view of Marinette and Alya. Marinette’s fists were tightly balled against their desk while Alya’s lips were pursed. Because Adrien had known Chloé for longer than Alya and Marinette, one would think that he would be more comfortable being himself around Chloé and being honest to her about her brattish behaviour.

One would think. Really, he just felt more obligated to tolerate her even if he stiffened at most of her touches. Adrien pulled a faint grimace and placed his cheek in his hand, keeping quiet.

“Now, now, there’s no need to be sour,” said Chloé as she wagged her finger at Marinette and Alya. “But you might be onto something. A more perfect combination couldn’t be forged. We were destined to work together on the school dance, no?”

She rang out with laughter, which Sabrina joined in on. Marinette’s right eye twitched a rhythm.

“Well, you’ll be together in a room with two people from every class,” Alya remarked in an attempt to soften the blow that Chloé’s words stung Marinette with.

“Whatever,” said Chloé with a shrug. “We’re all going to choose my idea for a theme so they’re just there to vote for me so it’s all official and stuff. They’re not actually going to contribute any ideas.”

Chloé rounded on Adrien again and clapped her hands together. Adrien tensed.

“Say, Adrien, have you decided how you’re going to ask me to the school dance?” asked Chloé, but she didn’t give Adrien a chance to answer. She delved her hand into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper that she held out for Adrien to take.

He eyed it warily.

“I thought I would save you the trouble of coming up with what to say by commissioning a pre-written speech from one of my dad’s friends who is a published author,” she explained. “That way, all you need to do is memorise what it says so when you invite me to attend the dance with you, it’ll go as smoothly as possible.”

Adrien didn’t move. She frowned and thrust the piece of paper closer toward him, staring intensely at Adrien, who felt he had no option but to take it from her. He could have flatout said ‘no’ to her. He wanted to have flatout said ‘no’ to her. Of all the people he could bring to the dance, and someone like him had a range of options, Chloé ranked very low on his hypothetical list.

The opportunity to voice his objections passed. Chloé smirked and strutted over to her desk, Sabrina in tow. Adrien averted his eyes. Nino reached over and slid the piece of paper out from between Adrien’s forefinger and middle finger so he could read it.

At the row of desks behind Adrien and Nino, Marinette bore holes into the blackboard with her heated glare, teeth grinding together.

Alya squeezed Marinette’s shoulder. “Come on, it’s not the end of the world.”

“But what if something happens between them?” Marinette tugged on her pigtails. She started talking faster, words bumping into the ones that followed. “What if she locks them into the gym the night before and all this talk about the school dance has become all Adrien can think about so when their hands brush together as they reach for the same banner and they lock eyes, Chloé leans in and the lights go off just before they kiss and - ”

“ - you are reading way too far into this,” finished Alya calmly, able to understand everything that Marinette had babbled, and she swatted at the imaginary cloud by her head containing Marinette’s story, in which the imaginary Marinette had been using a blowtorch on the imaginary door to the imaginary gym. “You’re worrying yourself over nothing. Seriously, it’s no big deal. I actually feel sorry for Adrien. Having to work on something with Chloé is going to be an absolute nightmare. By the end of it, it’d be a miracle if he can stand her.”

Marinette managed to grin and leaned her head against Alya’s shoulder. “Thanks, Alya.”

At the end of the day, rather than head outside to be driven home in his limousine, Adrien trooped into a classroom that would be where the first meeting about the school dance would take place. He didn’t recognise many of the faces of those already seated around several desks that had been pushed together to form the outline of a square, possible as this classroom had a flat floor. Not sure where to sit, he hovered by the door and let his gaze hop between unoccupied spaces as he tried to decide.

Chloe stepped up to Adrien’s side, curled her arm around his elbow and pressed into him a bit. A shiver surged through Adrien. She glanced at the present company and said, “Hm, the selection process must have been random after all. If I had been in charge, none of these losers would be here.”

Adrien quickly scanned the room for an empty chair between two people so he wouldn’t have to sit next to Chloé. One such seat existed. Before Chloé could drag him over to two adjacent empty seats, he freed his arm, darted over to the place that caught his eye and sat down. The guy to Adrien’s left ignored him and carried on chewing gum, but the girl to Adrien’s right met his eyes briefly and offered Adrien a shy smile.

“Hi,” said Adrien. He gave a small wave and received one back in return.

Having lost hold of Adrien, Chloe huffed and stomped over to the other side of the guy chewing gum. As with Adrien, the guy failed to acknowledge her beyond blowing a pink bubble. Chloé, pouting, popped the bubble with her fingernail, and the gum splattered across most of the guy’s face.

“H-Hello,” replied the girl, who probably felt obligated to talk to Adrien now that eye contact had been sparked. He could relate. She untangled her finger from the brown curl of hair that she had wound around it and clasped her hands together. “So, uh, are you looking forward to the school dance?”

The girl cringed immediately after blurting out her question.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. This will be my first one but I don’t have anyone to go with, and I don’t know if my dad has anything scheduled for me while it’s going on, so I don’t have any definite plans. What about you?”

“Uhm... I’m going with my... f-friend,” said the girl, eyes firmly cast downward.

He nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. I might tag along with my friend, Nino, though if I do, I’d be a third wheel because he’s going with his girlfriend.”

“It must be nice to be able to go with someone as a girlfriend,” commented the girl, sounding wistful, and she separated her hands so she could fidget with her necklace that consisted of a black string and a silver charm of a key which had what looked like a snake wound along its blade.

“I’m Adrien, by the way,” said Adrien. “Cool necklace.”

The girl jolted a bit in her seat and initiated eye contact with him again, but like before, it was only fleeting. “My name is Reine. My friend... the one I talked about... gave it to me. I mean the necklace. I like your ring.”

Adrien inhaled, intending to thank her.

“And I’m sure that I don’t have to introduce myself,” said Chloé, who was slightly leaning sideways over the table so she could see past the guy clawing gum off his face. She waved the hand furthest from the table and added, “This is taking forever. Everyone’s here, or at least, everyone that matters. After all, my idea is so great that it’s a given that everyone is going to vote for it.”

Reine shot a smile at Chloé that someone like Adrien, who was personally experienced with crafting them, knew to be forced.

Chloé scowled at Reine. “Well?”

“Pardon?” said Reine, smile slipping off.

“Aren’t you curious what my idea is?” asked Chloé impatiently.

“You can tell me, if you want,” replied Reine in a small voice.

Adrien didn’t see how anything that Reine had said or how she behaved could be interpreted as being rude, but Chloé gasped and slapped a hand over her heart.

“For your information,” said Chloé coldly, “my proposed theme is a royal ball. I recently imported a dress from Natanaele Vistoso, a famous designer in Italy. This dance will be the perfect opportunity for me to show it off.”

Chloé jerked her head back and touched her fingers to her hair, striking a pose.

Reine hunched her shoulders and fiddled with her necklace. The guy between Adrien and Chloé smacked his lips together as he chewed on the gum that he managed to extract from his face. Adrien merely stared at Chloé, occasionally blinking.

“You must be speechless,” said Chloé.

“Your idea sounds cool,” said Reine, but she speedily moved on. “I thought we could have a superhero and supervillain theme...”

Adrien perked up and struck a genuine grin. “Hey, that’s a fantastic idea, Reine. It’d be really original.”

Chloé’s mouth fell open.

The guy chewing gum blew it into a bubble that popped. He gathered it back into his mouth and said, “I’d vote for it.”

Reine covered her mouth and looked away, evidently pleased. This couldn’t be said of Chloé, whose lips almost completely disappeared into her mouth and who glared at Reine, who was distracted by Adrien talking about Reine’s idea. Not Chloé’s idea, but Reine’s. Chloé reclined back in her chair so she could no longer see Reine and whipped her phone out of her pocket.

She sent the following text to Sabrina:

‘i need you to ask at the office for me and reine so we can have a one-on-one reality check. this girl thinks she’s better than me and there is no way i’m losing to some stuck up jerk.’

To show that she truly meant it, Chloé added an angry face emoji to the end of the text.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” came a voice from the doorway. A tall woman with raven hair strained into a bun on top of her head strode in. Her name was Miss Simon, and she specialised in physics. “Is everyone here?”

Conversation died down. Chloé froze. Fortunately for her, someone piped up, “Donatien had to use the bathroom.”

Miss Simon sighed and sat down. One chair was left now. “Well, we’ll wait for him to return before we get started but how about we introduce ourselves in the meantime? Though I assure you all that you’re going to be a close-knit group by the time this is all over.”

She winked at them.

Chloé checked her phone to see if Sabrina had replied yet.

“Young lady, please put your phone away,” said Miss Simon, more stern than easygoing all of a sudden.

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Chloé, but she just hid her phone under the desk so Miss Simon couldn’t see it anymore.

Miss Simon pointed at everyone in turn, going in a clockwise circle as she asked everyone to introduce themselves. Chloé barely paid attention, not caring to learn their names. During Reine’s turn, when Reine said, “I’m Reine and I chew my food the same number of times on each side’, which was met with bewildered stares that prompted her to shrink in her seat, Chloé’s teeth clenched together tightly so a dull ache nested in Chloé’s jaw.

Adrien then greeted everyone, though only a loser wouldn’t know him. The door to the room opened and a boy in a checkered shirt walked in. It must have been the infamous Donatien.

“Come on,” Chloé murmured to her phone. Her phone vibrated and she peeked down at her lap to read the latest text.

‘what should i say?’

There was no limit to how hopeless Sabrina could be. Chloé’s fingers flew across her phone screen as she typed in her reply.

‘anything! i just need to be alone with her for a bit.’

“Hey, you better not be on your phone still,” said Miss Simon.

“I was setting it to silent,” lied Chloé. She looked up. Everyone was gazing at her. “What?”

“Chloé, it’s your turn to introduce yourself,” said Adrien in just above a whisper.

“Oh!” said Chloé. She barked out a few notes of laughter and motioned toward herself with one hand. “Well, as you all know, I’m Chloé, and my father is the mayor.”

Much more could be said about Chloé. Enough to fill a book series, in fact, but she seemed to have provided a sufficient amount of information about herself as all eyes drifted over to the jock next to her. As annoying as Chloé found this activity, it did help postpone the group discussion on themes, which Chloé wanted to commence after her little conversation with Reine.

The last student was explaining the origin of the scar on his left knee, visible once he peeled back the bottom hem of a shorts leg, when the classroom door opened and Sabrina poked her head in. Everyone wheeled around to look.

“Um, I was asked to fetch Chloé and Reine by the receptionist,” said Sabrina, on the verge of redeeming herself for her needless question to Chloé about what excuse she should give. “They’ll probably be able to come back in a few minutes.”

Rather than stare at Sabrina, everyone fixed their eyes onto either Chloé or Reine. Most focused on Reine, who hugged her arms around herself, her own gaze on the desk in front of her. Chloé smirked.

“It can’t be helped, I suppose,” said Miss Simon reluctantly. “You girls can join us once you’ve finished.”

Sabrina stayed by the door as Chloé and Reine stood up and headed over to her, Chloé swaggering and Reine scampering along with her head bowed forward. Once the two of them passed through the doorway, Sabrina shut the door and followed after them.

“We aren’t in trouble, are we?” asked Reine, tweaking her necklace.

Chloé flapped her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Well, I’m certainly not.”

She peeped sidelong at Reine. Reine walked with a slouch. This would be easy.

“Can you believe that _the_ Adrien Agreste made fun of your idea like that?” asked Chloé.

Reine lifted her chin, eyes wide. “He did?”

“Duh. Everyone knows that when somebody says ‘original’, it’s just a way of saying ‘silly’ or ‘ridiculous’ without actually using those words,” explained Chloé. “Think about it. Who would want to wear a bodysuit at a dance? This is a super important event that everyone is going to look back on in years to come... Who’d want to remember wearing a Halloween costume?”

Chloé took a few more steps and then pivoted on her heel, wearing the most sympathetic expression that she could fake. Reine had stopped walking prior to her and stared at Chloé in horror.

“Adrien’s usually not so bold with showing that he hates someone,” remarked Chloé. She splayed out her fingers and examined her pale pink nails. “I mean, he has mentioned to me that he thinks you’re creepy and stuff, but wow... this is unprecedented.”

“B-But... I thought he liked me,” said Reine, arms crossed in front of her as if forming a barrier.

“Why would a famous model like Adrien want to go to a dance dressed in a children’s costume?” asked Chloé in a patronising tone. She sneered. “Why would anyone over the age of ten? Don’t you see that you’d humiliate yourself if you even suggested that idea in front of everyone?”

“Then I won’t suggest it, or go back at all!” Reine said at her loudest volume so far, and it required a good deal of strength on Chloé’s part not to burst out laughing. She reminded Chloe of a kitten trying to appear intimidating. Reine’s face crumpled and she dashed forward. As she passed Chloé, she let out a sob. A bit further along, she whirled around and barged into the girls bathroom.

The door slammed shut behind her.

Chloé dusted her hands together and said, “Well, that takes care of that. By the way, Sabrina, what did you tell the receptionist so she would let you pull us out of the meeting?”

Sabrina bumped her fists together and cracked a wide grin. “I didn’t tell her anything! I just walked straight past the office and bluffed to Miss Simon.”

A laugh popped out of Chloé that she smothered lightly behind one hand.

“That’s nearly as genius as something I would have come up with,” said Chloé.

“I know, right?” Sabrina paused, still vibrating with happiness at the compliment. “What would you have come up with, by the way?”

Chloé opened her mouth, only to realise that she wouldn’t have devised a better plan than Sabrina, so she just said, “I don’t have the time to tell you. Just make sure that Reine doesn’t change her mind about not coming back, okay? If Adrien or that no name tries to suggest Reine’s theme, I’ll just say that Reine got sent home for bullying me or some other lie and no one will want to vote for her. It’ll be the final nail in the coffin.”

“Genius,” breathed Sabrina, in awe.

* * *

 Reine sniveled in one of the cubicles, sat on a toilet seat, legs tucked against her chest.

“Creepy... I’m not creepy,” mumbled Reine to herself. She didn’t notice the butterfly that flitted into the cubicle from above until it alighted on her necklace, but she let it keep her company. Butterflies didn’t hate people.

**“To be ridiculed is such a harsh blow to a young girl’s confidence, especially at a stage of her life when she seeks the approval of her peers...”**

The voice chilled Reine’s body yet she found comfort in it. Her body still quaked but she stopped crying and listened.

**“There can be no forgiveness for that, no?”**

She straightened up, eyes narrowed. “No, there... can be no forgiveness...”

**“Don’t be alarmed. I am Hawkmoth, and I can give you the power to make all those who see into your eyes worship you and obey your every whim. In return I only ask for you, Idol, to fetch me the miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir...”**

An imprint of a butterfly appeared across Reine’s face, the colour of a bruise.

“I’ll do it,” said Reine. A black cloud consumed her body, disappearing seconds later. Her curls turned dark green, into hissing snakes, and her clothes transformed into a white, billowing dress. Only her necklace remained to give any indication of her former self.

* * *

Sabrina tapped her foot, back pressed against the bit of wall next to the door of the girls’ bathroom. With a frown, she flung up her arm and glared at the face of her wristwatch. Just as she started to consider cracking ajar the door to check that Reine hadn’t escaped through a window or something, the door flew open without Sabrina’s aid.

A pale green girl strolled out of the bathroom.

“H-Hey...!” said Sabrina, faltering. She stepped away from the girl. “Who are...?”

The girl locked eyes with Sabrina, whose own eyes clouded up until they were completely white.

“I-Idol!” Sabrina gushed with a large smile.

“You,” said Idol, the girl. She pointed at Sabrina. “Do you want my approval?”

Sabrina stamped her feet in rapid succession and let out a prolonged, “Ye-e-e-e-e-es!”

A smirk graced Idol’s lips. “I want you to fetch me Chloé Bourgeois and Adrien Agreste, two of the most popular kids at this school. Then you shall be my best friend.”

The prospect of becoming Idol’s best friend elicited a delighted scream from Sabrina, and Sabrina ran off in the direction of the classroom where she would find the two aforementioned people.

 **“Remember, you need to capture Chat Noir and Ladybug,”** warned Hawkmoth’s disembodied voice.

“Don’t worry, once my friendship group has grown big enough, I will easily be able to present them to you,” promised Idol, who began to head toward the school office at a relaxed, casual pace.

Hawkmoth chuckled. **“Excellent.”**


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien’s head flinched back slightly. “Reine really got sent home?”

Chloé, sat beside Adrien in Reine’s seat, nodded. “Oh, I’m so glad you weren’t there to see it, darling. It was ugly.”

She pulled a handkerchief out of her trouser pocket and dabbed at her dry eyes.

“You shouldn’t be talking about this,” said Miss Simon with a creased brow but she watched Chloé, as curious as everyone else.

“That’s so weird,” commented the guy who had a scar on his knee and who had introduced himself earlier as Thomas, though it wasn’t like Chloé had been listening to him at the time. “Reine’s in my class and she never says anything or has many friends... She doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would bully anyone or call anyone names.”

“Well, she did,” snarled Chloé. Then, remembering that she was supposed to be distraught, she twitched her hands against her eyes, like how one would rub tears away from there, and added, “Boo hoo, boo hoo. It’s always the quiet ones, no?”

Adrien leaned back in his chair and squinted at Chloé, arms folded over his chest. “Thomas is right. Reine doesn’t seem like that kind of person at all.”

“Think about it,” said Chloé, no longer wiping her eyes. “Why do you think Reine has basically no friends? It’s because she thinks she’s better than everyone else. That’s why she pushes everyone away. She doesn’t think anyone else is good enough for her.”

Before Adrien or anyone else could suggest another explanation, the door of the classroom burst open and Sabrina stumbled in. Sabrina scanned the group of people in front of her, though Adrien could only assume that was what she was doing. Her eyes gave no indication of where exactly she was looking at, completely white. He got this impression from how her head slowly turned from right to left.

She froze for a moment, having spotted her target, and leaped onto the unit of tables through a gap between two students who moved out of her way belatedly.

“Hey!” cried out a girl as Sabrina’s elbow whacked her in the face. Beside her, another girl cupped her hand over her nose.

Sabrina ignored them, acting as if no one else was with her apart from her prey, and vaulted over the desk so she landed in the space formed by the desks bordering it. Then she crossed over to Chloé, who she tackled without warning. Chloé’s phone fell from her hands and bounced to underneath the table. The chair that Chloé was occupying toppled backward, taking the two of them down together.

When Sabrina stood up, she was carrying Chloé over her shoulder with unprecedented strength.

“Have you lost your mind?” shrieked Chloé, who could do nothing but squirm and kick her legs against Sabrina’s chest. Sabrina said nothing and walked out of the room with Chloé. “Put me down, Sabrina!”

Miss Simon lurched to her feet but didn’t go after them. “What’s going on?”

No one could offer a reason. Not for a lack of trying though, particularly in Adrien’s case. He stared after them with a heaviness stirring in his stomach. Not a minute could have passed after Sabrina and Chloé left the room when another figure appeared in the doorway.

This time, the receptionist.

“Adrien Agreste,” said the receptionist. “I need... Adrien Agreste.. to report to the Eiffel Tower right now!”

She caught sight of him and bared her teeth. The back of Adrien’s neck prickled. Keeping her eyes on him, she dragged one foot forward. Adrien jumped up, staring into her blank eyes. They were completely white, just like Sabrina’s had been.

“What on Earth is going on?” asked Miss Simon. She approached the receptionist cautiously. “Julia, what are you doing?”

As much as Adrien wanted to know as well, he suspected that staying here wouldn’t get him the necessary answers. He picked up his satchel from the floor and positioned the strap across his shoulder. His eyes narrowed at the receptionist, fists clenched in front of him. The receptionist dodged past Miss Simon and hurdled toward the unit of tables, which she threw herself at much like Sabrina had done.

Unlike Chloé, Adrien had anticipated this, so he bolted around the desks and over to the door before the receptionist could cross over to him. Everyone else started to evacuate. Instinctively, he hung back to let them through first.

“Come here!” screeched the receptionist. She sprung over one of the desks, heading toward Adrien again. A moment’s hesitation seized Adrien as she charged at him, and she might have reached him had Miss Simon not thrown herself in the receptionist’s path, allowing Adrien to recollect himself and escape.

Adrien slammed the door shut behind him, able to hear the two members of staff grapple with each other in the classroom. Both Sabrina and Chloé were nowhere to be seen and the last of his fellow students had ran out of the school. Heart pounding, he listened, almost straining his ears. On this rare occasion, he welcomed the sound of Chloé’s loud voice because he could hear her screams ring out from across the courtyard, and so he therefore knew roughly where to find her. He galloped down the stairs and cut across the courtyard.

There was no sign of Chloé in the first classroom that he checked on the ground floor, but her screams were louder so he pressed on.

In the last classroom at the other end of the row, Adrien spotted the pair through the glass wall separating the room from the courtyard, and he began to spy on them, hidden mostly behind the door with little more than his eyes visible if one were to catch sight of him from where Sabrina, Chloé and a third person stood. From his angle, he could only see the back of this unfamiliar person, who he would soon discover to be Idol.

Sabrina, facing Idol, still had Chloé slung over her shoulder.

“I told you to let go of me!” wailed Chloé, pummeling her fists against Sabrina’s back. “I don’t know what’s got into you or why you brought me to this weirdo, but you have until the count of ten before I erase you from my memory.”

Adrien withdrew a bit so only one of his eyes could be seen, in case Idol turned around or Sabrina focused on the door.

Chloé squinted at the window, where she could presumably see Idol’s reflection. “Do you both have the same contacts? Talk about tacky.”

“Excuse me, Sabrina, but please turn around so I can look into Chloé’s eyes,” said Idol, hair wiggling. The constant movement of her hair drew Adrien’s attention to it and he realised that rather than locks of hair, Idol had individual snakes like Medusa from the Greek myth.

“Y-Yes, Idol!” said Sabrina, and she twirled around so Chloé faced Idol instead.

A combination of the door and Idol blocked most of Adrien’s view of Chloé’s face but he didn’t want to risk exposing more of himself, so he waited for something to change. Flashes of Chloé’s elbows teased his vision as she writhed, refusing to comply.

One of Idol’s snakes lunged at Chloé and bumped its head against the underside of Chloé’s chin. She gasped and then fell silent and motionless.

Adrien waddled through the seconds that dragged by.

“Do you want to be my friend, Chloé?” asked Idol, finally.

Chloé clapped her hands together.

“I do, I do, I do! Please, let me be your best friend!” pleaded Chloé to Adrien’s astonishment.

He jumped a bit at the exclamation. A drastic change in personality like that couldn’t be natural.

“By the way,” said Chloé, “have I told you that I simply adore your necklace? You must tell me where you bought it so I can buy ten for myself.”

Adrien’s brow puckered.

Sabrina huffed and with a jerk, straightened up. Chloé slipped off her and tumbled to the floor.

“Hey, I’m Idol’s best friend, not you,” said Sabrina, and she prodded herself on the chest.

“Huh? You? Clearly I am Idol’s best friend,” said Chloé. She rose from the floor and shoved Sabrina, who shoved her back. Their squabble devolved into a petty slapping match, where both turned their heads to one side and blindly flapped their hands in the vague direction of the other’s face.

Idol swayed her hips to one side and the laugh that she gave off reverberated through the room. “Get me Adrien and I might decide on which of you will have the honour of being my most treasured friend. For now, you’ll have to excuse me as I have a city to win over... not that it’ll be hard, of course.”

The girls immediately stopped fighting and nodded at her.

“We could never be mad at you,” said Chloé, batting her eyelashes at Idol.

Adrien interpreted this as his cue to exit so he ducked down and hurried off, away from the classrooms, and into the closest doorway, which happened to lead him into a utility closet. No more than two steps could be taken once inside. An attempt to go further almost caused him to step into a bucket with a mop in it and trip over, but a violent wobble stopped him from overbalancing and he stamped down his foot, upright. Admittedly, there were better places that he could have fled to, like a bathroom or a classroom that didn’t have shelves of paper towels and spray bottles right in front of him that might fall if he moved too suddenly, but here would suffice.

Loud footsteps came and went. Now, he could only hear himself breathing, but he didn’t dare speak until some time had passed.

“Okay, after I transform, I need to find Ladybug and let her know what’s going on,” muttered Adrien. He opened his satchel.

Nothing happened.

“Plagg?” he said.

After a short delay that nonetheless existed, Plagg poked his head out of Adrien’s satchel and snorted loudly. Adrien flinched at the sound.

It was now that Adrien would find out if Plagg’s illness affected his ability to become Chat Noir. He threw his satchel to the floor.

“Transform me, Plagg,” said Adrien. Plagg disappeared into Adrien’s ring.

Soon Chat Noir stood in the utility closet, tall with his chin held high. Chat Noir held up his baton and tapped his thumb against the paw print button on its upper end. Out slid a small, flat screen with a picture of Ladybug on it. For the next minute, he stared at the picture of her, willing it to become animated, but she didn’t answer his call.

Ladybug must not have transformed yet. He chewed on his bottom lip. Contacting Ladybug was a high priority, but so was evacuating those in the school not yet corrupted by Idol. Like Miss Simon.

Chat Noir slowly opened the closet door and surveyed outside, looking through the screen that he had slid out of his baton that showed the area in front of him rather than Ladybug. No one was there. Before he continued, he took a deep breath, and then he hastened back to the classroom, keeping to the edge of the courtyard and stooping his body down.

As soon as he arrived at the classroom, he edged the door open and peeked inside. Empty. No receptionist and no Miss Simon but that meant he would need to keep an eye out for them, the receptionist in particular. Hopefully, Miss Simon had managed to escape. Drumming his fingers against his thigh, Chat Noir racked his brain for a way to let Ladybug know about this villain before Idol’s army had grown too big and before Ladybug looked into Idol’s eyes. His other hand cupped his chin in thought.

When he wanted to find out new information about Ladybug, he checked the Ladyblog. Perhaps it could also be used to get new information to Ladybug. He frowned. The only person he could call on his baton was Ladybug, not anyone else, and it might complicate things if he tried to convince Alya that ‘Adrien’ lent him his phone.

There had to be a phone somewhere close by. His eyes scanned the room and not much later, he saw Chloé’s phone under the table, near where she had been sitting until Sabrina kidnapped her. Chat Noir dropped to his knees, picked up the phone and then left the room. He would make the call back in the closet.

* * *

Elsewhere in Paris, Alya flipped through a library book, seated on Marinette’s bed, while Marinette lay on her stomach beside her, chewing on a pen.

“So...” Marinette chewed more. “Perseus used a mirror...”

“Shield,” corrected Alya. “He had to look at Medusa’s reflection in the shield or else she would turn him to stone with her gaze. You need to get your facts completely accurate for this, Marinette. Miss Bustier is going to be especially picky about you doing that because of the story you wrote on Ancient Egypt.”

“Right, right,” said Marinette. She took her pen out of her mouth and scribbled down a few sentences in her notebook.

Alya smiled fondly at Marinette, though her smile faded a bit when her phone started beeping. Confused, she reached into her pocket.

Upon seeing the Caller ID, Alya’s smile crumbled away completely and in its place emerged a glower. “What does Chloé want?”

“Chloé?” repeated Marinette. She stuck out her tongue. “Argh, don’t bother answering. It can’t be anything good.”

Though Alya agreed, she nonetheless swiped her finger across the screen and accepted the call. In monotone, she said, “What is it, Chloé?”

“Is this Alya?” asked Chat Noir, sounding nothing like Chloé. Still, he went on to clarify, “I shouldn’t have to introduce myself but it is I, Chat Noir.”

“Y-Yes! That’s me.” Alya touched her fingers to her parted lips, grinning from ear to ear. She looked at Marinette. “It’s Chat Noir. I’ll put him on speaker.”

Marinette jolted upright.

“What does he want?” asked Marinette, clenching and unclenching her fists repeatedly, as if struggling to decide whether or not to snatch Alya’s phone right from her hands.

“I need you to do me a favour,” said Chat Noir. “There is an akumatized villain at Collège Françoise Dupont, and I need you to post about it on your blog so Ladybug can find out.”

Alya nodded. The springs in the bed creaked as Marinette rose but Alya didn’t pay that any attention, much like how she didn’t realise that Marinette was creeping over to the ladder by a platform close to the glass trapdoor in Marinette’s ceiling that opened up to Marinette’s personal balcony.

“That won’t be a problem,” said Alya to Chat Noir.

“This villain has the power to hypnotise anyone who looks into her eyes,” Chat Noir carried on. “Make sure to mention that.”

“Villain hypnotises anyone who looks into her eyes. Got it. One more thing. Why do you have Chloé's phone?"

Chat Noir hesitated. "She dropped it."

"Thanks. I’ll update the blog right away,” Alya promised. Chat Noir hung up. Positively beaming, she said, “Wow, it’s almost like I’m a superhero too! Marinette...”

No one else was in the room.

“Marinette?” repeated Alya.

“Sorry, I just remembered I have errands to run, be back soon, don’t go anywhere,” came Marinette’s voice, to which Alya rolled her eyes and shook her head, unaware that on the roof, Marinette had just transformed into Ladybug.

“Adrien...” Ladybug murmured, but she couldn’t dawdle. She shot her yo-yo at a distant building’s chimney and leaped off her roof.

Back at the school, Chat Noir placed Chloé’s phone onto a shelf and sighed. He rested his back against the door so if someone like Chloé tried to bust in or worse, Idol, he wouldn’t be facing them.

Perseus used his shield to indirectly look at Medusa. Chat Noir didn’t have a shield but his baton could serve the same function, so he got out his baton and held it up.

Before he could touch the paw print button to activate anything though, his outfit disintegrated and his baton disappeared, leaving Adrien in Chat Noir’s place.

“Huh?” said Adrien. He patted himself on the chest, several times. “But I didn’t use cataclylsm...?”

Plagg sniffled, floating by Adrien’s head. “That’s the longest I can keep you transformed until I’m better...”

“Seriously?” said Adrien in disbelief. He waved his hands. “I was only transformed for a few minutes. How am I supposed to help Ladybug if you’ll just revert me back to normal without even a moment’s notice?”

“Ladybug will have to make do with what she can, like you,” said Plagg.

Adrien picked up his satchel and unfastened it so Plagg could dive back in. Just after he clasped it shut and draped the strap over his shoulder, the door of the utility closet flung open and Adrien spun around, finding himself face-to-face with Miss Simon.

“There you are,” she said.

His eyes focused on hers. White. So she hadn’t escaped. She stretched out her lips, showing teeth, and pounced at him. He dodged out of the way. Miss Simon missed him and plunged into the shelves at the back of the closet, lodging her foot in the bucket that Adrien had almost fallen victim to earlier. Before she could spin around or free her foot, Adrien seized hold of the bucket’s mop, slammed the door shut from the outside and wedged the mop into the door handle to trap her inside.

He looked both ways. The courtyard was otherwise deserted, but he doubted that it would stay that way for long. While he waited for Ladybug to arrive, he needed to avoid turning into one of Idol’s followers. Not only because he risked giving up his miraculous if he did, but because he was determined not to fight against Ladybug again. That had happened too many times in the past due to akumatized villains that could control him in some way.

It happening at all was too many times. More than once... that was nearly unforgivable.

A shudder rolled through Adrien but he soon puffed out his chest. Keeping his footfall as quiet as possible, he jogged parallel to the classrooms, headed for the closest exit out of the school.

When he reached the door to the room that Idol, Sabrina, and Chloé had been in, a voice called out, “Don’t move!”

Chloé stared at him from the top of one of the metal staircases that led to the classrooms on the floor above him. She bent her knees and bounded toward him, arms forward but not for a hug, ready to grab him.

“Please accept my con-door-locences, but I have to go,” said Adrien, and he wrenched at the door handle.

Locked.

“But it was unlocked...?” Adrien trailed off.

“There’s nowhere to hide but don’t worry, you’ll always be number two to me,” said Chloé, near the bottom. She slowed to a walk and raised her finger. Hanging from it was a metal loop with keys. “Come to the Eiffel Tower with me. You’ll love Idol, trust me!”

“Um...” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away, trying to think of a good pun, but his last one was hard to beat. “Bye.”

He streaked over to the front entrance of the school. His sneakers squeaked as he ran forward but just before he reached it, he staggered to a stop.

A crowd of civilians appeared from the doors of the front entrance, led by Sabrina.

“I saw him first!” said Chloé, voice close. Dangerously close. He glanced over his shoulder, saw her about to tackle him from behind, and threw himself sideways. Chloé stumbled through where he had been standing, regaining her composure near Sabrina and the others, who stopped so they wouldn’t crash into Chloé. She jumped at him, only to miss him again as Adrien leaped away from her.

Adrien twisted around and darted over to the classrooms, to the classroom next to the one that he had attempted to open prior, and found it to be locked too. Like before, Chloé threw herself at him. He stepped to the side so he avoided her. This time, her face smacked into the door of the classroom. Holding her nose, she tottered backward, temporarily incapacitated.

“I’ll be taking these,” he said, referring to the set of keys that he now snatched away from her.

The group at the front entrance started to spill into the courtyard, all eager to capture Adrien, who backed away from them and Chloé slowly. Adrien turned away from them and broke into a sprint. Behind him, everyone gave chase. From what he glimpsed, there seemed to be roughly twenty people, comprising of a mixture of students, school staff and a couple of civilians, with Idol nowhere to be seen. She must have gone somewhere else. Somehow overlooking her would have been almost an accomplishment. She was green.

In the utility closet, Miss Simon banged on the door hard enough to knock away the mop and she burst out of it.

With her and the rest of Idol’s army now closing in on him, he made a beeline for the back entrance out of the school, only to be thwarted by another twenty or so people that started to enter the courtyard from there.

Low on options, he hurried up the stairs to the next floor of classrooms and ran over to a classroom in the middle of the row. Not knowing which key was for this door, he tried several until he found the right one. He slipped inside, locked the door and heaved the teacher’s desk over to the door to help seal off the room. The door thumped as his pursuers attempted to break in. To add extra weight to the desk, he sat on top of it and pressed his back against the door. His face scrunched up into a grimace at the vibrations behind him, that rocked to the point that when a hard shove broke the door’s lock mechanism, his head still pounded.

Adrien felt the desk begin to move so he jumped off, spun around to face the commotion and backed away from the door. Propped up against the wall near the blackboard was a metre ruler, and though it cost him some time, Adrien plucked it from its place and readied himself. Into the basic fencing position he went. Rear hand slightly above his head, elbow level with his shoulder. Front arm forward, elbow a hand length away from his body. Ruler substituting for his saber. Legs apart. Feet at right angles, knees bent over feet and front foot pointed the same way as his front arm.

His eyes narrowed. Adrien told himself this would be just like a fencing lesson.

The first person to squeeze through the doorway was Sabrina.

“Don’t come any closer,” Adrien demanded in his most commandeering tone, in an imitation of his father. No one was fooled, or scared, anyway, for Sabrina continued to approach him. Others soon joined her. He gulped but kept the ruler poised, shuffling backward, toward the windows. Like the locked room from earlier, this room had two arched windows as well, one opposite the door and one to its right where some of the student desks were. It had the same layout as Miss Bustier’s classroom. “Please?”

Sabrina wasn’t swayed by his politeness nor was anyone else. Adrien started to turn toward the window closest to him but as he did, the glass in the other window shattered.

In what felt like slow motion, Ladybug flew into the room. She landed in the walkway separating the desks from the ones next to them and scampered down the steps in the walkway to Adrien. At the bottom, she held out her hand toward Adrien, whose eyes flicked down but soon returned to her face.

“Come with me,” said Ladybug, and she joggled her hand.

He didn’t look at it or even move, busy processing the new development, so she grabbed Adrien’s hand, pulled him closer to her and lifted him up into a fireman carry. Sense seeped back to him. His face burned and as Ladybug stepped over fragments of glass, he was glad that she couldn’t see how pink he must have gone.

She kicked at the window that she had entered the room through to make the hole in it bigger and together, by using her yo-yo, they escaped onto the roof of a nearby building, away from the school.

“Fine, you are?” she asked him. Realising her mistake, she twitched and without thinking, Adrien clung tighter. Her voice raised in pitch. “I mean, you are fine? Are you? Fine, I mean?”

The change in pitch could have been caused by a lack of air for all Adrien knew, so Adrien wiggled until he was instead being held in a bridal carry. Ladybug peered down at him, lips parted ever so slightly, mirroring his expression. His face felt hot as a smile crawled onto his face, and it melted into his features, leaving him unsure if he would ever be able to wipe it off.

“I’m fine now,” he said.

Then he remembered that they had an akuma to purify.

Back to business it was then. He shook his head, restrained his smile so his countenance was serious and fixed his eyes onto hers. “I think Idol - that’s her name - takes control of people by looking into her eyes...”

“... like how Medusa turned people to stone,” Ladybug chimed in.

Adrien nodded. “That’s right, my la-! Err...” His face distorted a bit as he tried to think of how to save himself from his slip up. He finger gunned her. “My la...test library book is about Medusa, and that’s what it said about her.”

Ladybug blinked. Adrien forced a wide smile, glancing away more than once as he waited for her verdict.

“Ah, well, Chat Noir said the same but thanks for letting me know,” she said with a smile that Adrien internally swooned at. There was a pause. She realised she hadn’t put him down yet so did so now with a, “S-Sorry,” though it wasn’t like Adrien had minded.

With her arms unoccupied, she could grip her hips and she did, and then she thrust out her chest, radiating confidence. Ladybug had come a long way since they first met, growing from the self-doubting beginner that she started as into the superhero in front of Adrien.

The skin by his eyes wrinkled as he grinned.

“W-Well, I better take you somewhere safe and then go find this Idol girl,” said Ladybug. She placed a hand against her cheek. “I haven’t seen Chat Noir at all...”

Her hand slipped from her cheek to her chin.

“I hope he is okay,” she said, mostly to herself.

Chat Noir was more than okay, but Adrien couldn’t and didn’t confirm this for her. Still, his eyes widened at the idea of Ladybug dropping him off somewhere far away, leaving her to save the day by herself.

“Anyway, I better take you somewhere safer,” she said again and she winced, remembering that she had already told him that. She extended her hands toward Adrien.

He waved his hands at her. “Wait!” That came out too loud. It was his turn to wince now. His voice lowered. “Idol is after me specifically, so...”

Ladybug’s shoulders curled forward and her open hands balled into fists. “So we definitely have to get you somewhere safe then!”

“So you can use me as bait,” he countered, gesturing to himself. He swallowed but it required more effort than usual. “Please, Ladybug, let me help you.”

The furrow in her brow deepened and he could tell that she was against his proposal.

“I wish Chat Noir was here,” said Ladybug instead of arguing back, and she focused on the distance. She bit down on her lip, shoulders hunched.

Adrien’s stomach jolted at the mention of his alter ego. His brow puckered and an unsure smile bubbled on his lips, torn between being thrilled that Ladybug desired Chat Noir’s presence and feeling guilty about being thrilled. He turned toward Ladybug and rested his hand onto her shoulder. They met each other’s gazes.

“I bet Chat Noir really wants to be here but he’s preoccupied,” said Adrien, head tilted to one side. Her eyes, studying him, warmed his cheeks, bringing back into existence a blush that would have been hidden by Chat Noir’s mask. “Chat Noir must be fighting off more of Idol’s followers. He’d definitely be here, otherwise. You’re both a team.”

Ladybug glanced down for a moment as she processed his words. Then she raised her gaze and her fists. “Y-Yeah! You’re right, Adrien... Thanks.”

He wondered if under her mask, Ladybug blushed too.

But...

“Right now, we need to stop Idol,” Adrien told Ladybug.

“I know, but where is she?” asked Ladybug, scratching the back of her neck.

“My friend, Chloé, is under Idol’s spell and she wanted me to go to the Eiffel Tower with her, so maybe there...?”

The Eiffel Tower wasn’t far from where they were. They could see it from here, in fact, so Ladybug lifted up Adrien, carrying him with one arm, and leaped off the roof. She shot her yo-yo at the chimney of another building. As Ladybug swung them over to the roofs of the first few buildings, slightly off course, Adrien assumed that she was taking a longer route so that those near the school would lose track of them, but as Ladybug progressed onto more and more buildings, she seemed to be traveling in an entirely different direction to that of their destination.

“Um, excuse me, but the Eiffel Tower is the other way,” said Adrien meekly.

Ladybug stopped on the next roof, not going any further than that. The Eiffel Tower was a speck in the distance.

“I’m sorry,” she said. She carefully put Adrien down and untangled his arms from around her neck. “It’s not safe. I’ll come back for you, I promise.”

Tingling swept up the back of Adrien’s neck and spread onto his face.

“You can’t...!” he blurted. Ladybug touched her hand to her throat, shocked at his volume, but he would be more shocked at himself later once he calmed down. “How will you defeat her if you can’t look at her?”

He reached a hand toward Ladybug. More questions burned in his mind and flickered uncomfortably in his chest. ‘Do you know what possession of hers was akumatized? Do you even know her appearance?’ Those dripped wordlessly off the tip of his tongue. The questions were wisps of smokes that would reveal too great an understanding of Ladybug’s duties, so he snuffed them out by clamping his lips together.

They stared at each other. In the end, Adrien broke their silence.

“I just, ah, think that maybe you could do with some help,” he said in a smaller voice, realising how strongly he must have come across.

“I’ll think of something,” she replied. She turned away from him. “And don’t worry, I won’t be alone. Chat Noir won’t let me down.”

As if sensing his reservations, she shot a smile at him from over her shoulder. He tried to mimic her, but suspected his eyes didn’t quite match his mouth.

“Take care,” she said.

Adrien stared at her, even when she had her back to him and was walking toward the edge of the rooftop, and when her yo-yo pulled her onto another building, he stared after her still, and he stared at her silhouette until she travelled too far for him to be able to discern her from the rest of Paris.

After a minute, he averted his eyes away and opened his satchel.

“Plagg,” he said.

“Argh...” A few seconds later, Plagg flopped his chin and arms over the opening of Adrien’s satchel. “Give me a heads up next time.”

“How long do you think you could hold another transformation for?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t know,” Plagg said. “But don’t you think Ladybug can handle things without you this one time?”

“This is important, Plagg,” said Adrien. “Ladybug’s seriously outnumbered and she needs all the help she can get. Me and her, we’re a team.”

Plagg blinked a few times.

“... Five minutes, maybe,” said Plagg. “If... you get me some cheese first...”

“Thanks, Plagg. I’ll owe you one,” Adrien replied. He nudged Plagg back into his satchel, fastened it shut and jumped down onto a fire escape stairwell attached to the building that Ladybug abandoned him on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to literally rewrite the entire chapter while editing it bc i realised i got the layout of the school completely wrong


	3. Chapter 3

The trapdoor in the ceiling of Marinette’s bedroom jerked open and soon after, Ladybug dropped through, barely making any noise as she landed. Adrien had put forth a valid point. Defeating Idol without knowing Idol’s appearance would be hard, and being unable to see Idol during their fight would cause victory to be almost impossible. Ladybug hopped down to the rest of her bedroom and hurried over to her vanity, where she rummaged through a drawer until she found a compact mirror. She flipped it open and peered at the small mirror inside, where her reflection greeted her, lips pursed.

It wasn’t Perseus’s shield, but it would suffice. Her yo-yo could function in the same way - she could look into its screen to see those nearby - but she couldn’t do that and fight with her yo-yo simultaneously.

Seconds after she had opened the compact mirror, she snapped it shut.

“Ladybug?” came Alya’s voice from behind Ladybug.

Marinette would have thrown the compact mirror into the air and unsuccessfully juggled it before it hit the floor despite her best efforts, but as Ladybug, she merely responded by flinching. After a short delay, she whipped around and realised she had somehow failed to notice that Alya, who sat on Marinette’s bed with her legs tucked against her chest, was still in her room.

“Oh, um, hi,” said Ladybug. She wiggled her fingers in an attempt at a wave. “What are you doing here?”

Alya’s lips curled as her face pulled into a frown and she jabbed her finger toward Ladybug, who tensed. “I’m waiting for my friend to return from some errands but you know what? I should be asking you the same thing. Why are you snooping through Marinette’s things?”

“Ah, uh, well, you see,” said Ladybug. She accompanied her next words with various jerky arm movements. “I have to fight an akumatized villain which I found out about on your blog, which is my favourite fansite, by the way, but I can’t look at her directly so I’ve been trying to find somewhere with a mirror, and what better place for one to be than in a vanity? I met Marinette earlier, actually, and she said that there would be one here.”

Ladybug realised that Alya was recording their conversation on her phone.

“I have to get going, so you better stay here and keep safe,” said Ladybug. “It’s not just the school that’s been taken over.”

“But Marinette-!” Alya choked.

“- I’ll save her, I promise.”

The idea of Ladybug using information from the Ladyblog to help save the day seemed to placate Alya, whose shoulders sank and whose finger lowered so it no longer pointed at Ladybug. When she raised her finger again, it was locked in a fist that Alya punched at the air with.

“Kick butt, Ladybug,” said Alya.

Ladybug cleared her throat and nodded. Gripping her compact mirror tightly, she jumped up, slipped through the trapdoor, and swung her way over to the Eiffel Tower.

Adrien dropped a handful of coins onto the shop counter and opened his satchel with one hand, holding a circular box of camembert with his other hand. Even if the store was unstaffed at the moment, he refused to take anything without paying for it.

* * *

“Here,” said Adrien as Plagg lifted his head out of Adrien’s satchel, sniffing loudly. “Eat it quickly.”

“You’re a peculiar kid, you know,” commented Plagg. He took the box from Adrien and drifted over to the counter so he could sit down. His paws fumbled with the box, and he gave it back to Adrien momentarily so he could open it for Plagg. Afterwards, Adrien handed it back to Plagg, who started nibbling on the cheese. “It’d be totally understandable if you missed out on this one akuma, what with me being sick and all and you having all those non-superhero obligations to attend to, yet you’re as determined as ever.”

“It wouldn’t be right if I bailed on the city and Ladybug,” replied Adrien, like how one would answer a simple maths equation.

Plagg hesitated, digesting not just cheese but Adrien’s words too.

“Now that I’ve thought about it more, I think the healer that I mentioned yesterday might be able to speed up my recovery after all,” Plagg admitted.

Adrien’s eyes widened. He rounded on Plagg. “Then we’d better head over there right away. Where can I find them?”

Watching Adrien open his satchel so Plagg could go back in, Plagg mumbled, “Hm, Master Fu definitely made the right choice with you.”

The remark had been meant for just himself, but Adrien jerked his head up, not quite hearing what Plagg had said but hearing him say something all the same. “What?”

Plagg twitched. “Um, I mean, the address is...”

* * *

Ladybug, discreetly perched on a low arch built into the Eiffel Tower, gazed down at who she assumed to be Idol stood on the plaza below, in the centre of a wide ring of people who had fallen victim to her power. Idol hadn’t noticed Ladybug, too preoccupied with performing a dance that involved hopping rapidly on the spot, touching down with a different foot each time.

Well, to Ladybug, it appeared to be some kind of dance. Now wasn’t the time to watch though. She took a deep breath and dropped down onto the plaza, with her back to Idol. As soon as she landed, she straightened up and opened up her compact mirror.

“You showed up,” noted Idol.

On hearing Idol’s voice, Ladybug raised the compact mirror and adjusted the angle so she could see behind her. Admittedly, Ladybug’s idea didn’t work as well as she had expected. Her mirror struggled to catch Idol’s reflection.

“Idol, is it?” asked Ladybug.

“So you’ve heard of me,” said Idol. “Oh, ho ho!”

The beat of footsteps sounded behind Ladybug. She judged them to be far enough away that she didn’t have to move yet but she squinted, blurring her vision, just in case.

“I’m glad you came here, actually. You’ll be perfect for my collection,” said Idol.

Ladybug’s brow wrinkled. “Collection?”

“Haven’t you seen them? All those people who will do anything to be my friend,” said Idol. Her footsteps stopped. Ladybug opened her eyes fully. All the people standing in a large circle around the two of them stared at Ladybug with white eyes. Some of them, Ladybug recognised faintly, like the man who owned a corner shop that she often bought ice cream from, but others, she knew better, like the Mayor and Mylène's father and, her eyes widened, her parents.

Heat rose to Ladybug’s face, that itched and burned. “These aren’t your friends. You brainwashed them into being your servants. They might worship you but they aren’t your friends.”

“And what, you think you’re better, Ladybug?” snapped Idol. “Do you have any real friends, or are people just your fans?”

“I do have friends,” said Ladybug. “I have Chat Noir.”

* * *

The room that Plagg’s proposed healer brought Adrien into bore a pink hue. Immediately, Adrien’s mind listed all the symbolism of the colour that he could remember. It represented compassion, love and nurturing, and it was not a colour that his father often utilised in his designs.

“So your cat, Plagg, is it?” said the healer, Master Fu, as he carefully laid Plagg down onto a mat. With more neutral lighting, the mat might have been white, not pale pink, and the varnished wooden floor that the mat was on might have been brown, not a mahogany tinted with purple.

“Yeah,” said Adrien, kneeling beside Master Fu, who had set a small gong on the other side of him to Adrien.

Master Fu quirked his brow. “Your cat, he is... sick?”

“Yeah,” said Adrien again. He gripped his knees. “Plagg accidentally fell into a body of water recently and I think that might have got him sick.”

“A body of water?”

“Plagg’s an outdoor cat.”

To Adrien’s relief, Master Fu seemed satisfied with the information that Adrien had given, and he struck the gong, letting it ring out. Plagg’s face scrunched up and he groaned. Master Fu banged the gong again, and again. The third time, Plagg relaxed and became motionless. No one spoke during this process.

After the sixth peal petered out, Master Fu lowered his mallet and laced his hands together on his lap. Adrien glanced at him, unsure what to do or even what to expect.

Plagg’s eyes opened.

“Did it work?” asked Adrien.

“Yeah,” said Plagg, and he sat up, confused why Adrien was shaking his head and waving his hands at him behind Master Fu’s back. Only when Master Fu turned to Adrien, prompting Adrien to stop, did Plagg realise. “I mean... meow.”

Adrien slapped himself on the forehead.

Master Fu chuckled and picked up Plagg, cradling him in his hands. He held him out for Adrien to take. “Ah, Plagg must be like the cat that says ‘no’ in those internet videos. Here you go, young man. Plagg should be better in no time.”

“Thank you so much.” Adrien dug his hand into his satchel and pulled out his wallet. He sifted through it. “How much do I owe you?”

“My services are free of charge,” said Master Fu.

“Can I at least give you a tip?” asked Adrien, waving a few bank notes. “Seriously, I can’t thank you enough.”

“Continue to take good care of your Plagg, and I will consider that payment enough,” replied Master Fu. He kept his eyes on Adrien until the door closed quietly between them.

* * *

Idol’s victims advanced toward Ladybug, but Ladybug could only watch one side approach, lest she turn around and lock eyes with Idol. She widened her stance and swung her yo-yo in front of her fast enough that it functioned as a shield. Now would have been a really, really good time for Chat Noir to show up. He wouldn’t be able to make eye contact with Idol either, but his company and support would nonetheless be appreciated.

Also, she wouldn’t have to fight Idol’s army alone.

“Well, your dear friend, Chat Noir, is nowhere to be found,” said Idol. “Yet my friends are all here, ready to do my bidding.”

Pain pounded in Ladybug’s jaw from teeth clenched too hard together. “Friends aren’t slaves.”

“Whatever, they’re happy to do it anyway,” said Idol. “Pin down Ladybug for me, friends!”

Footfall exploded as everyone except Idol charged at Ladybug at the same time. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she ran toward the perimeter of the shrinking circle around her. Ladybug jumped over several people and on the other side of them, continued running, away from everyone. This way, they wouldn’t have her swamped from all sides and  if she positioned herself in a corner, she could establish a foothold, not that she wanted to fight any of them.

She glanced at her compact mirror. Fighting like this damaged her chances of winning, but she had to try. That, she owed to the city. To everyone.

The first person reached her. Roger, Sabrina’s father. Ladybug wheeled around, keeping her gaze low, and aimed her yo-yo at his feet. His ankles got tangled in her yo-yo’s string. He tried to step toward her but, unable to move his feet, Roger thrashed around and fell onto his face.

“Sorry,” said Ladybug, but she couldn’t focus on him much longer, not when more people came forward to take his place. She tugged on her yo-yo to free it so she could immobilise the next person.

Only, once she spun around and looked in her mirror, she saw everyone stampeding toward her. Ladybug’s heart thumped. From the distance, there hadn’t seemed to be too many people, but now that they were on the same level as her, she fully appreciated how they overwhelmed her in number. The length of the string of her yo-yo hinged on her willpower, but as determined as she was, she didn’t know if she could wrap the string around everyone.

Moreover, she wouldn’t be able to activate her lucky charm with it being utilised in that way.

Ladybug shot her yo-yo at the ledge that she had dropped down from earlier and pulled herself up onto it. Here, she had space to breathe and think, but her mind remained blank. She gripped her mirror tighter, starting to tremble.

“So what’s the plan, my Lady?” came a voice from right beside her, one that she froze at but one that she thawed at within seconds.

Her head turned sharply and just as she expected, she was greeted by Chat Noir’s toothy grin. The relief that washed through Ladybug left her in a sigh. “Chat Noir! Where have you been?”

“Me? Oh, I was fighting some of Idol’s servants, and I followed them here to you.” He grabbed Ladybug’s wrist, lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Nope,” she said. She extracted her hand from his loose grip and stared down. “There are so many people here... Even if we could see Idol, there’s no way could we reach her without going through all of them.”

Chat Noir’s hand found her shoulder this time and squeezed it. “You’ve saved us from equally bleak situations before, Ladybug. You can do it again.”

Before Ladybug could reply, Idol cut in.

“Are you afraid?” rang out Idol’s voice. “We have you surrounded, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Give up.”

All of her followers cheered their assent.

“She’s right that we’re surrounded,” said Chat Noir, who examined the screen protruding from his baton and finally gave Ladybug a decent image of Idol to safely regard. “They were gathering around you on the plaza and as I came over to you up here, I noticed that everyone had spread out again to surround the Eiffel Tower.”

“Surround...” Ladybug’s face scrunched up for a moment. When the moment ended, her eyes widened and she punched her open palm. “I’ve got it! If we go back down, we can lead everyone away from Idol, but first, we need a clear space to land in.”

“Leave that to me,” said Chat Noir. He planted one end of his baton against the vertical side of the ledge. “Hold on tight.”

Ladybug did so. Chat Noir smirked briefly. His baton stretched out, extending rapidly in length, sending them down at a slight angle so they landed near one corner of the plaza, which by now everyone had drifted away from when they followed Ladybug over to the centre point directly below the Eiffel Tower.

Now, with Ladybug and Chat Noir relocated, Idol’s army chased after them again.

Chat Noir flourished his arms, yelled, “Cataclylsm!” and slammed his right hand down. The black aura that smouldered from his hand came into contact with the plaza. Around his hand, fractures tore through the ground, spreading through the plaza tiles in ripples. First, those of Idol’s army closest to the pair wobbled, balance lost temporarily on the uneven, shifting surface beneath their feet, and then those behind them soon stumbled too, in a domino effect.

He straightened up and twirled his baton so the people closest to them, who had regained their balance by now, were forced to back away or else be caught in his baton’s path.

“Thanks,” said Ladybug.

“I’ll accept a medal and a back scratch later,” he replied. “For now, how about one of your fabulous lucky charms?”

“Right!” Ladybug said with a nod. She flung her yo-yo into the air and yelled, “Lucky charm!”

Red energy shaped like ladybugs flaked off her yo-yo, spiraling in the air around it. Within seconds, the ladybugs flew together to form a constantly rotating coil that conjured, at the top of it, a pepper shaker stopped up with a red lid spotted in black. It plummeted down into Ladybug’s outstretched hand, her other hand hanging by her side, holding the mirror.

What she really could have done with was a bag to carry everything in.

Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder. “Is this really the time for grocery shopping?”

Armand, Adrien’s fencing and PE teacher, lunged at Chat Noir, but Chat Noir parried his attack and swatted him away with his baton.

Ladybug pressed her lips into a thin line. Ideally, she would now survey the area to find out how she could utilise her lucky charm object, but meeting the eyes of Idol would result in disaster.

“We have to be careful not to look at Idol,” Ladybug reminded Chat Noir.

“It seems like I’ll have to depend on my purrfect hearing,” remarked Chat Noir. As he turned his head away from Ladybug, his eyes closed.

Armand’s fist flew toward Chat Noir’s face, but Chat Noir, whose cat ears twitched despite not being real, dodged back and caught Armand’s fist in his palm. With his superhero strength, Chat Noir swung them both around in a circle. Ladybug ducked to avoid getting thwacked by Armand.

Chat Noir threw Armand into the next nearest group of people, knocking all of them to the ground.

She straightened up, impressed.

“Now would be a good time to save the day, my Lady,” said Chat Noir, who began poking the end of his baton against Ivan’s stomach, eyes still closed. “Is that you, Kim?”

“Ivan,” said Ivan.

“Drat.” Chat Noir slapped himself on the thigh.

“Idol would know my name,” sulked Ivan. His arms flailed more fiercely, hands trying to grab at Chat Noir.

Ladybug held up her mirror, aiming it at different angles to show her various things that would be vital to her plan in addition to the pepper shaker.

First, the mirror itself.

Next, the bandana of Mylène, who glared at her from the front of the next wave of enemies for Chat Noir to tackle.

Chat Noir’s baton.

The Eiffel tower.

And with that, Ladybug knew what to do.

Mylène ran forward, arms stretched out. Chat Noir raised his baton.

“I’ll be needing that.” Ladybug reached past Chat Noir and swiped Mylène’s bandana off her head. She tied it around her own face, obscuring her mouth and nose, and knotted it at the back of her head. One hand carried the pepper shaker, the other her compact mirror. “Be a dear, Chat Noir, and launch me over to Idol with your baton.”

He nudged Myllène away, pivoted around to face Ladybug and set one end of his baton against the ground. “For you, first class.”

Ladybug jumped up and crouched on the top of the baton, facing away from both the crowd and where she knew Idol to be. She twisted the lid of the pepper shaker, loosening it, though she clenched it tightly to prevent the two parts from separating. Chat Noir tilted his baton so it was poised at an angle, and then the baton shot out in length. As Ladybug soared backward, she stared at the mirror.

In their haste to please Idol by capturing Ladybug and Chat Noir, Idol’s minions had all gathered in one place, leaving Idol defenseless.

Idol held up her arms, bracing herself for an attack as Ladybug hurtled closer, closer, closer to her, but then she seemed to have an epiphany. She giggled and stepped to the side so Ladybug would miss her.

“Nice try,” said Idol, but Ladybug hadn’t planned on crashing into her. When Ladybug was near enough to Idol, she jerked her fist, fully unfastening the pepper shaker’s lid. Pepper vomited out of the pepper shaker, into Idol’s face. Idol sneezed loudly, and she sneezed again, and again, and so on.

Spared from the pepper by Mylène’s bandana, Ladybug tossed away the pepper shaker and plucked her yo-yo from her hip, still travelling backward. Ladybug hurled her yo-yo at the Eiffel Tower and tugged at the string, making sure it was taut so she didn’t zoom too far past Idol and instead came to a halt. She sneaked forward so she was a few paces behind Idol, who had yet to stop sneezing and was doubled over, eyes forced shut by every sneeze.

“Weren’t you taught to cover your mouth when you sneeze?” asked Ladybug as she removed the bandana so she could blindfold Idol with it. Ladybug knotted it firmly around Idol’s eyes and before Idol could take off the bandana, Ladybug twirled some of her yo-yo’s string around Idol, pinning Idol’s arms to her sides.

With Idol’s eyes now useless, Ladybug spun her around so they faced each other.

Idol’s snake hair hissed and though Ladybug recoiled initially, she still reached toward the only accessory that Idol wore - a necklace. Its string snapped as Ladybug ripped the necklace away from Idol. She threw the necklace at the ground and stamped on it.

A black butterfly that had pale purple spots on its wings fluttered out from beneath Ladybug’s foot.

“Not so fast, akuma,” said Ladybug. Her yo-yo unwound from the Eiffel Tower and whizzed back into her hand. Ladybug dragged her finger across the yo-yo’s diameter. The half of the yo-yo that she touched opened up so it resembled a ladybug taking flight, but then the two pieces on that side disappeared, leaving a white glow in its place. She lobbed her yo-yo at the butterfly, which had started to fly away, and her yo-yo swallowed the butterfly whole. As it did, the white half of the yo-yo reverted back to its usual red-and-black colouring.

Grinning, Ladybug pulled on the yo-yo string, caught the other end in her hand and gave the yo-yo a tap with her index finger. The yo-yo opened up but it wasn’t a black butterfly that emerged from it but a white butterfly that Ladybug waved at.

“Bye-bye, little butterfly,” said Ladybug. She threw the pepper shaker into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The pepper shaker dissolved into a swarm of ladybugs that whooshed past everything and everyone affected by the akuma. That included the broken necklace that magically repaired itself, the school, the city streets, the plaza, and last of all Idol, who became submerged in a bulbous, purple sludge that melted away to reveal Reine on her knees.

Chat Noir slunk over to Ladybug. They exchanged grins and bumped fists, though their celebration ended prematurely when Chat Noir spotted Reine. He walked over to her and crouched down, picking up her necklace along the way.

“Here,” he said quietly as he passed Reine’s necklace to her.

She raised her head, ignoring the necklace. “W-What... What happened?”

“You became possessed by an akuma that turned you into a supervillain, and you tried to force everyone to be your friend with magic,” explained Chat Noir.

Reine’s face quivered, tears welling up in her eyes. “I... I’m sorry. I just...”

“It’s cool. I get it, but no one can be liked by everyone,” said Chat Noir. He rested his hand on Reine’s shoulder with a comforting smile. “Sometimes people just won’t like you, even if it’s not justified, or there isn’t a reason at all. It’s hard but you shouldn’t let it get you down. The people who matter won’t be one of those people.”

She gulped and retrieved her necklace from his poised hand. “Right...”

Chat Noir’s ring beeped.

“Ah, that’s my cue to leave,” he said. He rose and gave a friendly wave.

“B-But won’t everyone hate me for what happened?” Reine called after him.

“Nah.” Chat Noir laughed. “This happens way too much for that.”

He smacked the base of his baton into the ground and vaulted away from the area.

Ladybug cupped her hand against her forehead. She watched him vanish into the distance.

* * *

The bassline to a pop song thumped in the gymnasium which was packed with students, the majority of them wearing red outfits flecked with black spots. Marinette walked in and blinked at the abundance of people attending the dance in Ladybug outfits, so surprised that she didn’t notice Alya saunter over, dressed as Lady Wifi.

“Hey, Marinette,” said Alya. Her eyes flickered. “Are you dressed as Chat Noir?”

“Y-Yeah,” said Marinette. She quickly modelled for Alya, clad in an accurate Chat Noir costume that she made by hand. “You like?”

Alya rubbed her chin. “Yeah, but for some reason, I thought you’d be Ladybug.”

“Me?” said Marinette. She flapped her hand at Alya and laughed. “Nah. I thought I’d be a bit more original.”

“Hm,” went Alya, frowning, and Marinette's stomach clenched for a moment, but then Alya nodded with a smile. “I see your point. I’ve only seen one other person dressed as Chat Noir.”

“Really?” asked Marinette, who had been halfway through a sigh of relief that she ended prematurely. “Who?”

“Her.” Alya pointed. Marinette followed Alya’s finger to Reine, whose hands were being held by another girl. They danced together, the second girl dressed as Ladybug. Both girls smiled at each other, fingers interlocked and their eyes for no one else. “That’s Reine. The theme was her idea. Adrien said.”

“Yeah,” said Adrien, dressed as Ladybug and who had standing on the other side of Marinette to Alya for Marinette didn’t know how long. Marinette nearly screamed.

“There couldn’t be a better theme,” said Nino, made up to look like the Bubbler and standing next to Adrien too with his arms folded over his chest.

Nearby, Chloe wore an Antibug costume.

Ivan shambled past Chloé with Mylène, both him and Myène completely obscured by their costumes of their akumatized selves.

“Uh, you got the colours wrong, Chloé,” said Ivan. Chloé flinched.

“I’m not Ladybug! I’m Antibug!” she yelled after him, but he and Myène had already moved on. 

“Well, your costume is similar to Ladybug’s, so maybe that’s why everyone keeps telling you that,” Sabrina piped up, rubbing her hands together.

Chloé glared at her and huffed. “You’re one to talk. You don’t even have a costume.”

“I do! I’m the Vanisher,” corrected Sabrina, face pink.

Alya smirked, overhearing them.

“Yep,” said Alya, “there couldn’t be a better theme.”

She leaned forward and looked past Marinette and Adrien.

“Hey, Bubbler, let’s dance,” she said.

Nino bowed and offered his hand to her, which Alya accepted gladly. “As you wish, Lady Wifi.”

They departed for the dance floor together. Now alone with Adrien, Marinette started to sweat, heart fluttering like butterfly wings.

“So, uh, Marinette...” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

Marinette jumped. “Y-Yes?”

His face warmed into a smile. “Do you want to dance?”

For a few seconds, her mouth operated silently. Adrien waited with remarkable patience. She shook her head until sense returned and clasped her hands together. “S-Sure! That would be, uh, should I say, purr-fect?”

After saying that overused pun, she didn’t, she couldn’t look at Adrien as they walked hand-in-hand onto the dance floor, which was a shame because she missed the blush that dusted his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed reading this!!


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